Book follows Colorado promoter's life with rock's greatest

By Clay Evans, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
11/29/2011 06:29:53 PM MST

Updated:
11/29/2011 06:34:28 PM MST

Barry Fey, concert promoter, faces 61,500 rock n roll fans at the University of Colorado s Folsom Field on May 1, 1977 when Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seeger, Firefall and John Sebastian played the Boulder stadium.

Think of Barry Fey as a sort of Forrest Gump of classic rock 'n' roll.

The famous Colorado concert promoter has hung out with virtually every big-time rock act to emerge from the genre's classic era, from The Doors to Hendrix to the Stones to Led Zeppelin to U2.

In fact, if you rocked out at a major concert in the Denver metro area from, say, 1967 through the 1990s, you owe your awesome time to Fey.

"After 42 years of touring, there are maybe five promoters I have a relationship with and that says a lot. Barry is one of a dying breed, unfortunately, because he was booking acts when it meant something, when it was special, when it was really rock 'n' roll," writes Ozzy Ozborne in a foreword to Fey's new, self-published book, "Backstage Past."

Fey, now 73, will speak about his long career and the book at the Boulder Public Library on Wednesday night as part of the Boulder Museum of History's exhibit and events centering around the theme of "1968."

"I had people always saying, 'You've got great stories. Why don't you write a book?'" Fey says. "And this book is every word the truth, but not always nice."

Pete Townshend, the famous windmill-armed guitarist for The Who and a close friend of Fey, also wrote a foreword, in which he begs to differ, if only slightly: "Whatever Barry says about me in this book of his (and I haven't read it yet) will probably be nonsense," Townshend writes. "But if you want to hear about how rock shows were evolved, elevated and turned into magnificent spectacles, read and learn."

Barry Fey, famed Denver concert promoter and author of the new book "Backstage Past," will speak in Boulder on Wednesday.
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'Heaven in '67'

Fey cranked up his long career in 1967 when he took over a failing Denver club named the Family Dog. Within months, the club had hosted Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and the Doors.

"We found heaven in '67," Fey says.

The book is jammed full of tales, from the harrowing to the hilarious, about rock's most iconic acts. And Fey seems to remember the dates for every show he ever produced.

He hosted the very first North American show for an obscure English band meant to open for Vanilla Fudge and Spirit -- Led Zeppelin.

"As soon as Bobby (vocalist Robert Plant) opened his mouth, I felt sorry for the other bands," Fey recalls of the 1968 concert at Denver's Auditorium Arena.

Denver concert promoter Barry Fey, author of the new book "Backstage Past," talks to Roger Daltrey of The Who in 1972.
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"I don't know how Spirit went on after that," he writes in the book. "You didn't have to be a genius to know Zeppelin was going to be a smash."

But he also says that the British foursome were unmanageable, and Zeppelin's late drummer, John Bonham, was one of the most mean, difficult people he'd ever met.

"They were a great band," he says, "but they were (jerks)."

Boulder rocks

Fey began doing enormous shows at Boulder's Folsom Field with Leon Russell, eventually hosting such giant acts as The Who, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones beneath the Flatirons.

He mourns the disappearance of such massive, day-long spectacles, which featured hugely popular headliners and mere opening acts that included Jethro Tull -- he also produced the infamous 1971 Tull show at Red Rocks at which disgruntled fans without tickets rioted -- John Cougar Mellencamp and Firefall.

"Today there are no acts worthy of playing stadiums," he says.

In the book, he grouses about ticket prices that have shot into the stratosphere. A Stones ticket in '72 was $6.50, and should now cost about $30, accounting for inflation.

But Stones tickets in 2006 "ranged from $60 for nosebleed seats to $450 ... I've seen other tours where the prices are double that. ... I'm as much to blame as anyone ... I unleashed a monster," he writes.

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